WELL-BEING

Cambodia remains the second-least prosperous country in Asia behind Pakistan, according to an annual ranking released in London on Monday. The 2009 Legatum Institute Prosperity Index, which combines economic growth statistics with measures of happiness and quality of life, ranked Cambodia 93rd out of the 104 countries measured. The country was given a “weak” ranking on the performance of its democratic institutions and for “entrepreneurship and innovation”, and an “average” rank on personal freedoms and “economic fundamentals”. “Cambodia has a parliamentary democracy, but its institutions and processes are not democratic in practice,” the report stated. Cambodia fell below neighbours Thailand (44th), Vietnam (77th) and Indonesia (61st) in the index. Laos and Myanmar were not included in the 2009 report. Phay Siphan, spokesman of the Council of Ministers, said such rankings did not take into account the challenges facing the country. “The ranking is an opinion based on other information,” he said. “We are working towards the happiness and the needs of the people.”